It represents the largest project that makes up Frisco’s "Five Billion Dollar Mile," but so far Wade Park is little more than a massive hole in the ground.
On Tuesday, the faltered $2 billion, 175-acre mixed-use project that fronts the Dallas North Tollway at Lebanon Road was listed on a Collin County foreclosure sale for the fourth month in a row.
In February, two of the lenders for the project — which broke ground in August of 2014 — declared that the developer, Thomas Land and Development of Georgia, was in default and scheduled the property for foreclosure.
The lenders claim they are owed $130 million for the project. Plans involved a mix of retail space and more than one thousand residential units, in addition to restaurants, hotels and office space.
In each of the last three foreclosure sales, which happen on the first Tuesday of every month, the lenders pulled the property back on the day of the sale in the hopes of working out some kind of financing deal with the developer.
It happened again this month.
According to a representative of Foreclosure Listing Service, the Addison-based agency that handles the foreclosure sales, Wade Park represents the largest commercial development to face possible foreclosure in North Texas the last two decades.
Representatives from the City of Frisco are cautiously optimistic that a positive outcome will be reached sooner rather than later.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"While we would like to see this project move forward, the financial and legal processes must continue to completion first,” said Ron Patterson, President of the Frisco Economic Development Corporation. “It's simply too soon to speculate on what will happen next with the property."
The "Five Billion Dollar Mile" refers to four projects that were slated for development along a one-mile stretch of the Dallas North Tollway, just north of the Sam Rayburn Tollway interchange.
The FEDC has since rebranded the area along the Dallas North Tollway, from Highway 121 to 380, as the "Frisco North Platinum Corridor."
The City of Frisco says its priority right now is keeping the Wade Park property secure. A spokesperson said the city has not paid any incentive money for the project.
During a town hall meeting Monday, Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney said he has met with the developer, Stan Thomas.
“He continues to work through his financing and is very confident that that will be in place and the project will resume construction here in the next few months," Mayor Cheney said.
The most prominent of the other projects, The Star — the new corporate headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys — is largely completed while the other two: Frisco Station, a 242-acre mixed-use development and The Gate, a $700 million mixed-use development. Those are still in some stages of development.
The failure of Wade Park to come to fruition stands in stark contrast to much of the rest of North Texas.
“Commercial real estate in D-FW is in good shape compared to past building and economic cycles, and in good shape compared to most other metros nationwide,” said David Kahn, Senior Market Analyst for Dallas/Fort Worth CoStar Group, a leading commercial real estate information company. “The key indicators in multifamily, office, industrial, and retail are strong - vacancies are low compared to historical norms and solid rent growth and value appreciation is still apparent in all four major property types.”
NBC 5's Meredith Yeomans also contributed to this report.
